2025 Legislative Agenda
A key focus of the agenda is a comprehensive regulatory package incorporating policy solutions outlined in a recent Chamber study finding Colorado is the sixth most regulated state.
The Chamber’s priorities for the 2025 session are outlined below:
Regulatory Climate
The Colorado business community drives our state’s economy, employing millions of Coloradans, providing the goods and services we all rely on, and investing in our local communities. But based on recent research from the Colorado Chamber, our state regulatory climate is making us less competitive, threatening jobs and future economic growth. From employment regulations to environmental policies and more, regulations continue to top the list of concerns by Colorado businesses. It’s critical that state leaders understand the burden and costs faced by the business community with each new, complex rule or requirement at the state level.
- Support regulatory review through audit and sunset process
- Create regulatory oversight committee
- Establish performance audits on certain agencies
- Create more balanced regulatory framework for future laws
- Do no harm: no new mandates and regulatory burdens on employers
- Support policies that streamline and accelerate the air permitting process
- Support continuation of Chamber’s environmental work through creation of state-level task force
- Oppose efforts that limit the operations of the energy sector
- Support business and employee programs and autonomy when commuting
- Align state and federal environmental regulations
- Protect and continue to promote the health of the unemployment insurance fund
- Protect Colorado’s workers’ compensation system
- Oppose attempts to interfere with employer-employee relationship
- Support litigation transparency reforms
- Oppose needless new private rights of action against business
- Support construction defect reform
Protecting & Building Colorado’s Workforce
The Colorado Chamber is committed to bolstering our talent pipeline and ensuring our workforce is set up for success. Through its Education to Employment Alliance, the Chamber and its partners have collaborated on many new and innovative solutions in recent years to address our workforce gaps. As these initiatives come to fruition, the Chamber is focused on ensuring they are implemented and funded properly. In addition, a major priority in 2025 will protecting our workforce from the unintended consequences of laws that could threaten jobs, create operational problems for employees, and negatively impact the benefits and flexibility employers are able to offer.
- Oppose job killers
- Preserve Colorado’s Labor Peace Act
- Align workforce programs to ensure efficient and effective funding
- Ensure education providers are focused on the skills employers need
- Protect workers from unintended consequences of labor regulations
Cost of Living & Competitiveness
The Colorado Chamber is working to promote a future-focused vision of fostering a prosperous and inclusive economic climate. We want to be a top state where business leaders choose to invest, innovate, and create jobs and opportunities. But our high cost of living is holding us back – from housing to childcare and more. Recent rankings put Colorado in the top five most expensive states to live. These affordability problems have major implications for our current and future workforce. Cost of living is a critical business issue, and we must take steps to make living and working in Colorado more affordable in order to remain competitive.
- Support policies to increase housing in Colorado
- Support innovative housing funding policies
- Oppose tax and fee hikes that increase cost of doing business
- Support improvements to the business personal property tax credit
- Improve access and affordability of childcare
- Promote flexibility in Colorado’s health care system
- Support balance in emissions-cutting regulations
Tech Innovation & Economic Growth
Colorado’s economy is diverse, with strong asset clusters across multiple industries. The Colorado Chamber is the only organization representing all sectors statewide for businesses of all sizes. Our policy agenda focuses on unifying business issues that will improve our economic standing as a whole. Our technology sector in particular is poised to drive economic growth as the state’s economy and workforce modernizes. Through the Chamber’s Tech Alliance, we are focused on advancing policies that foster our tech community to ensure Colorado is an attractive place to do business now and in the years to come.
- Ensure updates artificial intelligence regulations preserve economic competitiveness
- Support policies that ensure Colorado’s technology sector continues to grow
- Promote safe online environment for children